And the moral of the story is
by Lisa Ann
Summary: Question:Which is worse? A singing Lora, a Marco-glomping Jess or chilli in the presence of Ax? This is the final chapter :)
1. Introduction

A/N: This is merely the introduction to a ficcy filled with insanity, plotholes and so on ad infinitum. I want to introduce the two main characters, Jess and Lora into this story before things start happening and all hell breaks loose. Literally.

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My first day in a new school. Well, technically, _our_ first new day in a new school, in a new country. Me and my sis had just moved over from England, and so far there was absolutely nothing to write home about.

"Berenson, Jake." The teacher was calling the register. Oh, goody.

"Here." I looked over. Blinked, and looked away again.

I sank back into a stupor as the register continued. There was no point in learning names. Time enough for that later. Right now, I was tired. And I needed sleep.

"Maritas-Fohrer, Marco."

"Here."

"Maxwell, Lora."

My name at long last. "Here."

"Maxwell, Jessica."

"Here."

Jess leaned over and nudged me in the shoulder, indicating the other boy sat directly in front of us. "Now, _he_ is cute."

I considered him. From the back he didn't look that good. Dark hair, olive skin, probably Spanish. He was the boy who'd answered before us.

"You think he's cute?" I blinked at Jess. She has such weird taste in men sometimes. As I said it, the boy turned around.

"Hi. I'm Marco. Marco the Magnificent. So. You two new, huh?"

I opened my mouth to retort, but Jess got there first. "Marco the Magnificent…what? Marco the Magnificent…_Midget_, perhaps?" She asked in a sarcastic-sweet tone.

Marco winced. "Beautiful and mean. I like you. "So, seeing as you two are both new, how about I give you ze grand tour?" (I kid you not about the French accent he tried at the end.) He looked at the two of us expectantly.

I looked at Jess. She looked back at me. I shrugged. "Sure." Why not?

The lesson dragged on, not that I was fully awake for all of it. The bell rang, and I was definitely glad when it was over. Marco came sauntering over from where he had been talking to a tall, blonde girl. "Come on, ladies. It is time for ze tour." I shuddered. Not the French accent again…

Next to the blonde girl, I saw Jake shake his head slightly and smile. The blonde girl just looked furious.

Marco showed us the toilets, the library and most of the classrooms. After he had tried repeatedly to ask Jess out. And I mean, _repeatedly_.

Outside the chemistry lab: "Jess, you like movies?"

Jess: "Not with you."

Beside the entrance to the cafeteria: "Do you like going to concerts?"

Jess: "With my friends, yes."

Marco: "Am I your friend?"

Jess: "No."

By the entrance gates: "After school, do you fancy going bowling?"

Jess: "With your head, sure."

Out on the field, where he was showing us the rubbish bins (what fun), I saw a hawk zoom by. A red-tailed one; my dad's really into birds, so we get to go bird watching at weekends. Nowhere as fun as it sounds.

I watched it land on top of the school building, and stare straight at us unblinkingly. Weird. I turned back to Marco and Jess.

"…and over there is the gym where we are forced to do tortures such as basketball and gymnastics. Well, that's our school. What do you think?" Marco asked, looking at Jess.

Jess looked back at him. "I think it's time Lora and I got to our lesson. C'mon, Lora."

We walked away, leaving Marco in the middle of the field.

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A/N: Disclaimer -- I don't own the Animorphs, much to the relief of my friends. Neither do I own Jess and Lora…they _are_ my friends…

Lora: Damn right, girlie *looks at text* So, Jess, what's this with you and Marco, then?  
Jess: *scans text* WHAAAAAAAAAAAAA?!?!?!?!!?!?!? Oh, Stephanie!  
Stephanie: *looks up from typing second chapter* What?  
Jess: I'm going to kill you *holds up brand-new Lochabar axe*  
Stephanie: Why?  
Jess: I just am! *aims axe and charges Stephanie*  
Stephanie: Yaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! *runs away*  
Lora: *tuts* Immature children…  
Jess: *changes course, aims axe at Lora* SHUT UP!  
Stephanie: After that 'enlightening' conversation, I would like to add that Lora operates on ff.net under the name 'lora-helen' and she writes some great Gundam Wing fics, albeit a bit on the weird side…Jess is 'DigitalJessie' and has some Jak and Daxter fics in the pipeline…*mutters* What am I, an advertising service? Oh well, tell us what you think and we'll see you next chapter!


	2. Surveillance and surprises

"Marco, how about you just explaining it all from the beginning?" Cassie suggested calmly while giving 'the look' to Rachel and Jake..

"Look, there are these two new girls at school, one of whom is gagging to go out with me. I just know it" It was that afternoon after school, and we were all at the barn after Rachel had called a meeting to discuss my preoccupation with the twins on their first day at our school. Personally, I didn't see what she was getting so hyped up about.

At the other end of the barn, Jake rolled his eyes. Rachel sniggered. I also heard a rustling of feathers up in the rafters. I chose to ignore them. "But my point is that they could be ideal candidates for…" I lowered my voice a notch. You never know who could be listening. "…the blue box."

"No way!" Rachel exploded. A pair of racoons cowered as she stormed over towards me. "Am I the only one who remembers David?" She finished, towering over me. I kid you not, Rachel is a very scary person when she is two feet away from your face and also half a foot taller. Scary sight. Not one I recommend on an empty stomach.

No. Tobias. But Marco does have a point. Just because things went wrong with David doesn't mean that it's always going to be the same again.

I agree. We cannot let the mistakes of the past affect our decisions in the future. Ax said gravely. Five pairs of eyes turned to look at him. I believe we should try to increase our numbers. But only people we can trust. Never again people like David was.

"Amen to that." Jake muttered under his breath.

"We could at least do surveillance for three days, just to make sure they're clean. Then we decide, if at all, what we do." I said defensively.

"No!" In a few short seconds, Rachel strode over towards me, and I kid you not when I say that the ground shook beneath her feet. "One, we are not doing this. Two, we cannot do this. Three we don't even know their names!"

"Jessica and Lora Maxwell." I couldn't resist it. I smirked.

Not a good idea. Rachel's hand shot out and pinned me against the wall of the barn. Before she could do any long lasting damage to me, Jake raised his hand. "We take a vote. Surveillance on the Maxwell twins. Yes or no?"

"Yes." Cassie, rake in hand. Still cleaning out racoon…mess.

"Ye-ee-s." Strange, how having a hand blocking your airways can be an impediment to fluid speech.

"No." The hand withdrew somewhat reluctantly from my throat.

Yes. Ax.

Yes. More rustling of feathers.

"Fine, surveillance it is. Tobias, go find Erek. He can watch the twins outside school hours, with relief from you and Ax. Marco, you and Cassie are on school duty. Befriend them, find out a bit about them; where they're from , how long they've been here. That sort of thing."

***

Three days passed, during which Cassie and I did indeed make friends with Jessica and Lora. During those three days we, the Animorphs, had found out what I, Mighty Marco, had hoped and prayed every night for; JESSICA DIDN'T HAVE A BOYFRIEND!

Oh, that plus the fact that they went nowhere near a Yeerk pool entrance or consistently near any known Controllers. But come on! I had a chance with Jessica!

The girl was impossible to make friends with. Lora, not so bad. She was okay. But Jessica was like the ice queen or something. Every time I tried to start a conversation with her, I either got blanked out completely or else I got this pitying stare. Cassie she liked. Cassie and Jessica became rather good friends. Me, all I got was Lora. Great.

The day after surveillance was over, we had a meeting and took a vote. Approach the Maxwell twins; yea or nay?

Amazingly, it was all six in favour. At the meeting Rachel mumbled something about security in numbers, then said in a clear voice that this was all on my head and that if even the slightest thing went wrong with this then she would personally instigate my prolonged and ignoble death. I refused to retaliate for fears of personal well-being in general.

Jake gave me the job of persuading Jessica and Lora to come to a meeting at Cassie's barn on the Friday afternoon after school.

Friday lunchtime, I sauntered into the cafeteria, received a paltry lump of UGG (unidentified green goo) and scanned the tables, looking for the twins.

Hah! In the far corner, two brown heads deep in conversation. Had to be them.

I ambled oh-so-casually over, occasionally side-stepping a minor food-fight or to skirting round tables to avoid more UGG on the floor. Yuck. As I got ever closer to my goal, I could hear a little snippet of their conversation.

Jessica: "Did you understand any of that French lesson?"

Lora: "Something about shopping for food. Butter was mentioned a few times."

Jessica twitched slightly, like she had a tic or something, then said, "What's that in French?"

Lora: "Le beurre. I think. I'm not too sure…"

Riveting stuff. I put my tray down on the table and slid into a chair opposite Jessica, who had a look on her face that I'd never seen there before. "Good morning, ladies. How are you this fine day?"

"Not too bad, considering I just sat through double French and then Biology." Lora said, shuddering slightly.

"Jessica?" I prompted.

"Marco!" Jessica squealed. She leapt off her chair, flew round the table and hugged me. It would probably be better to say that she squeezed me, as I was fast losing the ability to breathe through my mouth and nose. Unless gills suddenly sprouted, Marco was going to be in big trouble.

"I…aah…get off…can't…breathe…" I managed to pant. A smirk crossed Lora's face as Jessica reluctantly let go of me and sat down in the seat next to me looking somewhat upset. Across the cafeteria, Rachel was staring, eyes wide open, shock etched into her face. Along with her, about half of the female population of the school was staring at me as well.

A chance glance to my left saw Jessica sitting down, facing me, purring slightly. I looked back at Lora.

"She likes me, doesn't she?"

Lora shrugged. "Ask her yourself."

OK, I could do that. Massaging my very sore throat, I turned so that I was facing Jessica. "Uh, Jessica?"

"Jess." She corrected with a smile. "Just call me Jess."

"OK, fine. Jess, what do you think of me? I mean, after that, I really don't know what to think…" For once, I was lost for words. Not a feeling I was used to that much.

The smile on Jess's face widened. "Yes! I think you're great! You're really funny, and I'm really sorry that I called you a midget and I'd really like to go out with you sometime!" She paused for a breath.

Whoa! Yes! I had a date with Jess! I had a date with Jess!

But more pressing matters first…

"Listen, you two. Are you doing anything after school this afternoon?"

Both of them shook their heads.

"Right. I'll meet you by your locker after last lesson. Me and Cassie. OK? We need to talk to you about something important. Me, Cassie and a few others. Is that okay with the two of you?"

Both girls nodded.

"Great. See you then! I've got to go, find Jake."

"Bye Marco." Jess looked rather miserable at the prospect of me leaving. That has never happened to me before. Hmm.

"I'll see you later, okay? Bye Lora. Bye Jess."


	3. Oh look! The world is getting bigger!

During Physics, Cassie confirmed that there was indeed a meeting after school, and that Jess and I were invited along. What the meeting was about, however, she refused to say.

At the end of Physics, the three of us - Cassie, Jess and I - went to meet up with Marco. I was still sniggering after the events of lunch, the events of which Jess had pretended she couldn't remember. Typical of her, really.

Sure enough, Marco was there, waiting patiently by Jess's locker. As we got closer, Marco tried to hug Jess.

"GET OFF ME, YOU PERVERT!" I think it was safe to say that everyone in the hallway heard Jess scream at Marco. He leaped about ten steps back then looked at Jess.

"But - but you, that is to say - at lunch, you -"

"I what?" Jess looked menacing. Jess looking menacing is not good. I still have the ingrained bite marks on my elbow to prove it.

"You hugged me, and said I was really funny, and really great and that you'd like to go out with me sometime." Marco was babbling like an idiot. I almost felt sorry for him.

Almost.

Jess, however, clearly did not feel pity for Marco. "When would I ever say that?" She asked, her eyes flashing dangerously.

But Marco was a smart guy. "Never. Absolutely never. Coming?" He added hopefully.

"Come on, Jessie. Marco's not dangerous." Cassie said. She took Jess's arm and they walked out of the school.

"Great," Marco muttered ominously, "looks like I'm left with Lora. Again."

"I heard that."

But then Marco had a distinctly uneasy look on his face. "We'd better get going."

So we did. On the way Marco refused to say anything about the meeting, only deigning to forewarn me that everything that was going to be discussed was true. Naturally, this made no sense but something told me to keep going. So I did.

Eventually we reached this farm on the edge of the woods. I was informed that this was where Cassie lived. It was a big old building, with a barn attached to the rear. I followed Marco through to the barn at the back, and we both went inside.

Inside was a whole assortment of people. Cassie, doing something with a bandaged eagle, Jess, a tall blonde girl, an awkward looking kid and Jake, the person I assumed was in charge. He was helping Cassie out and had a pitchfork in his right hand.

Marco quickly introduced me. "Cassie you know, Rachel, Jake I think you know of, and that's Ax."

"Weird name." Well, it was.

Marco rolled his eyes. "He's a weird guy." He made a phoney bow towards Jake. "We did as you commanded, oh fearless leader. The twins are here."

So he was in charge.

With his spare hand, Jake indicated a mound of hay. "You two should sit down for this." He looked up into the rafters of the barn. "Are we all clear?"

Cassie's mum is in the living room watching television and her dad's upstairs working. Other than that, we're clear.

I looked at Jess. The voice, it was silent. I heard it, but then I didn't. I followed Jake's gaze up towards the rafters. A red-tailed hawk was calmly preening its feathers.

Jake must have seen the look on my face. "Ah," he said, "that's Tobias."

I blinked. "He's a bird."

"Just sit down." Jake sounded tired. After giving me a fish-eyed look, Jess sat down on said mound of hay. I did as well.

Jake walked around the barn once, then came back and faced us. "I…do you two believe in aliens? As in, sentient life on other planets?"

"Sure." Jess said brightly. "Marco."

"I'm being serious." Jake frowned. "Lora?"

"I suppose so…I mean it's always a possibility. And after all, Earth can't be the only planet in the entire universe that's capable of sustaining any kind of life."

I swear that as I said that, the gawky kid in the corner, Ax, smiled slightly. Strange.

Jake smiled as well. "Right. Now, if I was to tell you two that sentient alien life does exist in the galaxy, what would you say?"

That got me. "I guess I'd have to see proof of it, otherwise I'd never believe it."

"Same here." Jess said.

"That we can do." Jake looked over at the kid in the corner. "Ax?"

He ambled over, somewhat jerkily. "Yes, Prince Jake?"

Jess snorted. "What?"

Jake shot Jess a brief quelling look, then turned back to Ax. "Ax? Don't call me Prince. And demorph, will you?"

"Yes, Prince Jake." Ax's reply came back. Then he closed his eyes.

And the changes began.

Ax's lips melded together in one horrifying movement. Then he turned blue. Not pale blue, not the tinge you get when it's cold - I mean bright blue. All over. A second set of legs burst out of his torso, complete with hooves. I watched, repulsed, as the fingers on each hand melted together then split to form two hands with seven or eight fingers apiece. Two extra eyes burst out from the top of his head, and began scanning the barn, apparently capable of turning a full 360º if necessary.

As fur sprouted all over a now centaur-like body, I heard Jess run from the barn.

Then the tail appeared. It came out of the rear end, and grew and grew, with a scythe-like blade tipping the end of it. Not pretty. The tail flexed this way and that.

The changes stopped.

"I'll go find Jess. I'll talk to her." Cassie offered. She left the barn.

Jake had started speaking again. "This is Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. He's an Andalite. In the war we're fighting, the Andalites are the good guys."

"That's what they want you to think." Marco muttered, averting his eyes from Ax.

"Marco? Shut. Up." Rachel spoke up at last, sending an evil glare in Marco's direction.

He shrugged it off and turned to me. "Now, as our fearless leader Jake was saying, it's a case of the Andalites versus the Yeerks. The Andalites are as you see a prime specimen here." He jerked his thumb at Ax. "But the Yeerks are different. They're no more than slugs, really."

"Slugs?"

"Slugs." Rachel affirmed. "They are parasites, they enter your brain through your ear and take total control of you. A person like that is called a Controller."

"My brother is one." Jake said flatly.

"So's my mother." For the first time, I heard sadness in Marco's voice.

"It's not only humans, though. Another species called the Gedds have been enslaved by the Yeerks. So have all the Taxxons and almost all of the Hork-Bajir have been enslaved as well. And now they're after good old _Homo sapiens_."

I didn't really know what to say. It's not every day that you find out about an alien invasion, is it?

"So, what is this all about?" I asked cautiously.

A smile appeared on Jake's face. "We fight the Yeerks. We being -"

" -Jake our oh, so fearless leader, Cassie the tree hugging nature nut, Rachel aka Xena: Warrior Princess, Tobias the Bird-boy, Ax our residential alien. And me, Marco the Mighty, Lord of the Playstation."

"Modest, too." I replied, shaking my head in mock disbelief.

"How could I not be?"

"So, how do you fight the Yeerks?"

These humans possess the ability to morph.

"The ability to what?"

Morph. To change shape. To become animals. Any animal that we can touch. A rustling of feathers told me to look upwards. The red-tailed hawk had fluttered over to the other end of the barn and was watching me intently.

"Grizzly bears and elephants." Rachel spoke up again. Then fell silent. Again.

Hawks or cats. There was a somewhat rueful tone to Tobias' 'voice'.

"Gorillas, lobsters, ospreys."

"Tiger, falcons. Any animal, any kind. But there's a time limit. You can never stay in any morph for more than two hours at a time."

"Why not?" I wondered out loud.

You get trapped. Tobias said. Just like me.

I was about to reply when Jess ran back into the room, screamed, "Maaaaaarco!", and leaped into his arms.

Marco looked shell-shocked. So did Rachel. Ax looked indifferent, and I got the feeling that he always looked like that. Jake had a look of slight bemusement on his face.

Cassie ran into the barn behind Jess. She was panting. She looked up at Jess, purring contentedly in Marco's arms and stopped panting almost immediately.

"Cassie? What exactly did you say to her?" Jake asked blandly.

"Well, I found her out by the cows we've got, and she looked kind of pale. I guess it was watching Ax demorph. I didn't want to talk about that, and obviously neither did she because she started talking about the cows, asking about them. I told her that my dad has them on loan from a farm thirty miles away from here, to help them deal with some economic problems they're having. Anyway, I told her that while we do have them, my mum's using them to make our own dairy products so that we can save on money as well, such as milk, cream, butter and so on. Then when I said that, she sort of twitched and ran straight back towards here."

"You have cows? Can I see them?" Hey, I like cows. They're cool.

Rachel's eyes narrowed. "Lora. We are talking about an en masse invasion here. By aliens who enslave the mind and remove free will. That we have to deal with. Saving the world comes first. Your obsession with cows can come after we've saved the world. Not until. Get it?"

"Look. The only proof I have that any of this is actually real is the blue thing standing in front of me. The silent voice, now that can be arranged. Tapes, recorders... No offence, by the way." I added as an afterthought.

None taken. the Andalite said, his eyes creasing together at the corners, almost a smile.

Cassie looked up from an injured animal. "Look, guys, it's getting late. Sooner or later, my dad's going to come in here to administer the meds and unless we are careful he is going to find six kids and an alien. Not the best scenario in the world, since I'd like to help save the world without being grounded. So maybe we should reconvene tomorrow and make any decisions then."

"What decisions?" I asked, an edge of doubt raising in my mind. Whatever strange things these people got up to in their spare time, I wasn't so sure I wanted to have anything to do with it. The morphing thing sounded pretty cool, but after watching Ax demorph, I wasn't so sure that I wanted anything more to do with Cassie, Marco and the others. It just looked way, way too gruesome.

"Decisions, as in we'd like to know if you and Jess want to become Animorphs." Jake said.

"Ani - what?"

"Animorphs. Short word for animal morpher. That's what we are. Animorphs." Jake said, running his hand through his hair. "But we can talk you through the whole thing tomorrow, go into more detail and so on and so forth. And like Cassie said, it is getting a bit late tonight. Maybe tomorrow after school?"

"Um…okay, I guess. Jess?"

She jerked her head up from where it had been positioned against Marco's neck. "What?"

"We better be going. Come on."

"But I don't wanna leave Marco!" Jess wailed, looking really sad.

"Jess," I replied patiently, "a couple of hours ago you screamed at Marco and called him a pervert for trying to hug you. One night without him is hardly going to make much difference."

"Well, I didn't mean it!" Jess said defiantly.

Rachel walked over to Jess. "Jessica, Jessica, Jessica. I can't believe I'm actually saying this to a girl, but get off Marco. You can see him tomorrow." She shuddered. "Ugh. Ughughugh."

"Promise?" Jess looked at me hopefully.

I sighed. Obviously, she was going to make things difficult. "Cross my heart and hope to die."

"Stick a needle in your eye?"

"And all the rest of it. Coming?"

"Okay." Slowly, hesitantly, Jess detached herself from Marco's arms. She walked over to me.

"Bye, Jess."

Bye, Marco. See you tomorrow."

Then (at last) we left the barn. About two minutes after we left, Jess slapped her forehead. "No!"

"What now?"

"I left my school bag in the barn." She turned around and went back into the barn.

I continued on without her. She could always catch up with me afterwards. She didn't come out. I stopped at a gate at the end of a dirt track and stood there patiently, waiting.

Minutes passed. No doubt she was canoodling Marco again. I wondered what was with her. I mean, my twin sister is strange sometimes, but strange doesn't account for mood-swings like these. Strange mood-swings, as well.

I waited. And waited some more. Watched the stars behind the clouds. Watched the moon as well. 

No Jess.

Then I heard the voices.

Come fellow females! We will find the blue box of transforming power!

Not if we Helmacron males find it first! Onwards!

It was the silent voices again, and I couldn't tell where they were coming from. I heard a noise behind me and whirled around.

A small ship, like something form _Star Trek: Voyager_ was hovering over the ground, at about my eye level. As I watched it, another one similar to it appeared as well. It stopped in mid-flight. And turned to face me.

I gulped.

A human! A filthy great human! We will capture it, o mighty Helmacron females!

A green beam lanced out from it, aimed straight at my heart.

When it hit me, I didn't feel anything. I wasn't dying; that was for sure. Instead, however, I noticed that the gate beside me was slowly getting taller and taller.

The dirt track now in front of me was getting bigger and bigger and wider and wider.

Even the moon seemed to be getting further away.

"Oh look! The world is getting bigger! Weird."

Then a red beam lanced out of the ship and everything went black.


	4. To kill a Maxwell

I will be heading back to the scoop, with your permission, Prince Jake. Ax said. When Jake nodded, he morphed wings and left the barn.

A couple of minutes later, Jess burst back in, claiming to have left her schoolbag in the barn.

"Jess?" Jake said. "It's on your back."

She looked around and sure enough, strapped firmly onto her back was her black backpack. "Oh. Oh well."

She bounded across the barn to me and began to hug me again. I wasn't objecting; this time I was ready. Arms wide open, and Jess sailed into them.

"Sweet." Rachel sneered, as I sat back down on my bale of hay, buckling under Jess's weight. Poor Marco wasn't built to cope with girls _willingly_ jumping into his arms. But he'd learn.

"Glad you think so." I replied. I adjusted my position to allow Jess to sit on me more comfortably. To do otherwise would probably have been disastrous for me.

And hey, I don't want to get hurt.

"Jess?" Jake again. "Now that you know that you do have your backpack, how about leaving the barn and going back to Lora and heading home?"

She shrugged. Didn't move, although she started purring again.

Guys? There's a noise outside. Sounds like engines…and a voice. Tobias ruffled his feathers. Don't quote me on this, but it sounds like Lora.

Jake left the barn. Rachel and Cassie followed. So did I, after having to yet again disentangle myself from Jess's grip. She maintained hold on my hand and we left the barn together.

Outside, we followed the dirt track to a gate. Laying next to the gate was a purple backpack. It was Lora's. No Lora, though.

About half a metre above the backpack was a single ship. About ten centimetres long, baton-shaped and it had a death's-head bridge at the front.

Rachel swore. Loudly.

"Amen to that." Cassie said uneasily.

"What the hell is that thing?" Jess took a step closer, dragging me along as well since she refused to let go of my hand.

"You really, really don't want to know." Jake answered.

Step back, human, or be incinerated by the force of our weaponry!

Jess shook her head, confused. "Where -?" She began, but was cut off by the Helmacrons.

Take us to the blue box of transforming power and live as the lowest of our slaves. Refuse and you will be the second to die an ignoble death!

"Second?" Cassie frowned for a moment, then looked horrified. "No. No!"

"Take us to the box now!"

Slowly, Cassie turned around and walked in the direction of the barn. The Helmacron ship followed her. Rachel began to morph to grizzly, and Jess watched, apparently fascinated.

She bit her lip, then said, "So this is what you guys do."

Jake looked at her. "This really isn't the time, Jessica."

"I know that!" Jess exploded. "I worked it out the same as Cassie! But I don't want to think about that right now, okay? Do you actually believe I want to think about the fact that whoever's in that ship just- just -"

She stopped speaking. Held onto my hand even tighter. I squeezed it back, wishing I could do something to help. A small smile appeared on Jess's face.

Uh, Jake? Rachel asked. She had finished morphing. Where exactly is the blue box? I assume that isn't at the barn?

"No. Ax has it."

"With him, or at the scoop?" I asked, knowing the answer already.

Jake didn't reply. Instead, he started running full-pelt towards the barn. Like idiots Jess and I followed. Rachel blew past us, truck-style, also in the direction of the barn.

Jess stopped. I stopped along with her. "What?"

"Lora's bag. I want to go back and get it."

"Okay." We both turned around and went back to the gate. Lora's bag was still there next to the gate, just as it was when we'd left it.

Marco! Now would be a good time for you to get your sorry butt in here! Rachel screamed in private thought-speak.

I started to morph. As my feet grew I kicked off my trainers and handed them to Jess with ever-growing hands. "Hold onto theeee-oyws."

I waited a couple of seconds. Tried again. Could you hold onto these for me? I…I have to go.

"Is that you in there?" Jess asked, taking the trainers.

I nodded my head slowly, keeping my eyes on Jess. Then I turned around and knuckle-ran towards the barn.

On second thoughts, I've pretty much got it all covered. Rachel said.

You would. I muttered.

I reached the barn and stopped just inside. I couldn't see Cassie anywhere, but Jake was human. He kept shooting worried glances towards the door that led into Cassie's house. Rachel's grizzly was panting, and had the Helmacron ship pinned underneath one clawed paw.

But, the Helmacron ship was also hovering over Tobias's still body in the opposite corner to Jake.

There are two ships?

Well done, Einstein. Rachel said acidly. Jake, you mind coming over here and keeping an eye on this one for me?

Jake started to move away from the door. Then he stopped. A trainer blew past him in the air and knocked the second ship onto the ground next to Tobias. The engines dulled from a fiery red to a dirty grey, then stopped altogether.

"That'll teach 'em to mess with my sister." Jess said ruefully. She walked over to the ship she had hit and carefully picked it up with one hand.

Angry thought-speak voices promptly ensued.

Put us down, filthy human, or we stalwart Helmacrons will incinerate you!

We will destroy you unless you replace our ship. Then you may live as the lowest of our slaves.

"Oh, please. You guys are pathetic." Jess muttered.

A minuscule red beam shot out of the front of the ship and got Jess in the shoulder. It smoked a little, but she didn't even flinch.

Jake left the door and walked over Jess. Rachel demorphed and I followed suit. Jake waited patiently for us to finish, then turned to Jess.

"Jess? I'm sorry about…about…I'm sorry about what happened to your…to Lora." Jake said quietly.

Jess looked at him then did something I thought I'd never see her do.

She started crying.


	5. Not dead just yet

I fell.

I fell a hell of a long way, screaming all the way.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

In my head I could hear the silent voices yammering on and on.

Die human! Now you know what it is to feel the wrath of the Helmacrons!

Enjoy your fall human, for soon you will be dead!

Didn't they ever shut up? I tried to ignore them and focus on what was happening. What was happening? Oh yeah…

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

And then I landed. On top of my left leg.

"Ow. Hey, cool, I'm in a forest."

I was. I was standing - okay, sitting - okay, sprawled all over on the (pink) floor of some forest. There were freaky-looking trees surrounding me at every angle. No branches at all, so maybe they were way big sticks. Or else those weird branch-less trees that grow in Australia or wherever.

Anyway…

I cupped my hands to my mouth, trying to manoeuvre myself into a sitting position. 

"Hello? Can anybody hear me?"

No response. Great. Just great.

I leaned backwards and felt something hard against my back. I turned around, and there was another weird tree-thing. I used it to pull myself up. Not that it helped or anything.

I looked down at my now-aching leg. One shoe was missing and there was a lovely long gash on my right knee.

"Great. Just great. Trust me to land in a forest AND LOSE MY SHOE!"

No reply to the yell. No sound at all.

"I'm all alone in here…  
Down where the freaky things grow  
I'm all alone down here  
Can anybody tell me please  
Just where, oh where, is my shoe?!"

I should tell you at this point that I cannot sing. At all. In the slightest.

Singing? Why would anybody be singing?

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

What? Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

And it went on like that for a while.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! 

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

"Who the hell is this?"

No reply.

"Great," I grumbled. "I get stuck in the MIDDLE OF FREAKIN' NOWHERE, I LOSE MY SHOE AND I GOT VOICES SCREAMING IN MY HEAD!"

I love my life.

Anyway, I started wandering around. Trying to get my bearings, is what I think it's called. I wasn't exactly a good Girl Guide. Come to think of it I wasn't a Girl Guide at all. Oh yeah, for one week. I got chucked out for telling ten-year-olds where babies came from (mail-order catalogues from the doctor) and giving them nightmares. I still maintain that they started it.

And I started talking to myself.

"Well, Lora, this is what you get for talking to Americans. Lousy stinking aliens. Lousy stinking forest. Not a Portaloo in sight. No wildlife either. I mean, think about it. Any forest you come across, you're going to have bugs, at the very least. Then you got bunnies crapping all over the place, birds making a racket and so on and so forth. None of that here. Add that onto the fact that not five minutes ago I was standing at a gate waiting for my sister to extract herself from Marco. I love my life." And I did.

I kept walking. And walking, and walking. And…got nowhere.

"Wonder where Jess got to." Oh, nuts - Dad! He was going to be worried sick! So, naturally, I started singing.

"My name is Lora  
I cannot go home  
Please leave a message  
After the tone.  
My name is Lora  
I think I'm going insane  
Please leave a message  
And also your name.  
My name is Lora  
I want out of here  
Please leave a message  
For Daddy to hear.  
My name is Lora  
Is anybody there  
I need a friend now  
Does anybody care?"

Who the hell? Lora?

"Well done, Sherlock!" Hey, I was annoyed. And in need of caffeine. And maybe some Immortality Spray [1]. Whatever that was.

Sorry.

"Here's the £32,000 question. Who are you?"

Jeez, you need to ask?

"Yes."

Fine. Tobias is the name, hunting mice is the game.

"Oh, crud."

I heard that. Hey, wait 'til the others hear about this!

"Eh?" Seriously - eh?

They all think you're dead.

"Whaaaaaat?!"

**********************************

A/N: Apologies for the delay in posting this chapter. I've been a very busy girl these last couple of months or so. But now I am on a roll. The next chapter will be coming soon.

I promise :-)

[1] Comment made by San the Insane (see reviews)


	6. The million dollar question

A/N: Just for the record, I do NOT own the following: Animorphs, Jess, Lora, Tapioca and Ashley  
As you may already know, Jess and Lora are two of my best friends (albeit very deranged)  
Tapioca is owned by San the Insane and Ashley is owned by remnants_2011  
Both these authors can be reached through my favourite authors page

**********************************

"I don't believe this. I really don't believe this."

"Quit whining, Jake." I hushed my voice as Chapman stalked past. "At least they haven't pinned it on us."

"Yet," he said darkly, gesturing at the queue in front of and behind us.

Maybe I should back up a little here. The whole Helmacron episode was Friday, when Lora was…killed. Over the weekend, Mr Maxwell had grilled me and Jess, and Jake, Rachel and Cassie to a lesser extent concerning Lora's whereabouts. We told the truth - or, should I say, the truth that wouldn't immediately result in our immediate execution by alien parasites. So, now the cops were involved. And they were going through all the people in all Lora's classes. Which included Rachel, Jake and me.

So the three of us were now queued outside Chapman's office, two girls in front of us, a couple dozen behind us. All missing chem. It was boring, but no way was I complaining. I was supposed to have written a paper on rates of reaction. Emphasis on 'supposed'.

"Oh boy, it's us next. Ash, I can't do this - I can't!" one of the girls in front of us moaned in a low voice. I didn't know her name - wait, Tapioca something-or-other. I think maybe her mom was a hippie or something.

"Tapioca," the other said firmly. "Did you kill Lora?"

Pause. "No."

"Did you cause her serious or even any bodily harm?"

"No."

"Did you even know her at all?"

"No."

The second girl sighed. "Then what have you got to worry about?"

Tapioca paused again. "Oh…thanks, Ash!" she cried, and hugged her friend.

"Women," I muttered to Jake in an undertone.

"Are you complaining?" he asked with a grin.

"Me? Nope!"

Rachel turned back to me and Jake. She'd been staring absently down the corridor. "Jake, I don't feel right about any of this," she said quietly.

"The mighty Xena feels worry and guilt?" I mocked.

"No, furball. I just seem to remember saying that if anything were to happen in regards of the two girls, then it would be your scrawny butt paying for it."

Jake's face took on that macho leader look he gets. "She has a point, Marco. The cops know that we were the last people to see Lora alive."

"Emphasis on 'alive'," Rachel muttered darkly.

"Thank you for that morsel of optimism," I replied.

"Always there for you."

The door to Chapman's office opened. Some kid named William came out and wandered off in the vague direction of the little boys' room.

The principal stuck her head round the door. "…Ashley Ashford, please."

Ashley Ashford went inside.

I couldn't hold it in. I looked at Jake. "What a name! Poor kid," I commented. "Wonder who got to name her?!"

He didn't smile.

"Lighten up, big Jake."

He didn't even deign to respond.

I rolled my eyes. My boy Jake will probably become an army general in later life. But he has no sense of humour. Neither does Rachel. Her idea of fun is poking it at poor defenceless little me.

It's a tough life.

"Eeeeeeeeeeee!"

A shriek echoed down the corridor. "That was painful," I said to nobody, looking to my left.

Tapioca the eternal weirdo was kneeling down on the floor. She stood back up, clenching one of her fists, as if nothing had just happened.

The principal poked her head round the door again. I gave her my patented Adam Sandler dopey grin. She sighed, and the head withdrew again.

Rachel strode over to Tapioca. "What was _that_ about?"

Tapioca refused to be intimidated by Rachel (who, by the way, was a good couple inches taller than her). Instead she held up a nickel. "See a penny, pick it up and all day you'll have good luck," she recited. Then she caught my eye. She looked me up and down before handing me the nickel. "Here you go, little Marco. Maybe now you'll get a girlfriend."

Rachel smirked. So did Jake.

Like I said, no sense of humour.

"I _have_ a girlfriend," I hissed to Jake.

"Oh, you mean Jess?" he said, still smirking. "The one who called you a pervert in front of half the school?"

"She apologised."

"Anyway, I don't think she wants much to do with you at the moment."

My witty yet oh-so sarcastic reply was interrupted by the principal. Ashley came out of Chapman's office. The principal watched her wander off in the vague direction of the girls' room and then consulted a list in front of her. "Tapioca Citri next, please. The rest of you can go home; there are only ten minutes left of the school day."

I looked at Jake, mouthing _Citri_ to him. He rolled his eyes.

Did I mention that boy has no sense of humour?

"We should get to the barn," Rachel suggested.

"Why?" I asked.

"To try and work out what we are going to do next, featherhead," was the reply.

"Fair enough," was my reply.

"We should wait for Cassie," Jake said. "What has she got now?"

"French," Rachel supplied.

Two minutes later we were waiting like the good little boys and girl we were (supposed to be) outside Cassie's French room. Eight minutes later (it's so useful having a watch) Cassie emerged. Along with a pale-faced Jess. I went up to her.

"You okay?"

She didn't even look at me. "Oh. Hi."

"We're going to the barn. You want to come?"

"Why?"

Jake was about to say something, when a flash of brown and red shot past the window.

Jess! I have to show you something!

She sent Jake a quizzical look. "Tobias?"

Jake nodded. He had an odd look on his face. "Come on. We better get to the barn."

Eventually we arrived at the barn, as smelly as it ever was and probably ever will be. Tobias was up in the rafters, preening himself.

"Well?"

He fluttered down and landed on a rake, at about eye level with Jess. It's Lora.

"What about her?" Jess asked, going pale.

She's alive.

Jess strode over to him and managed to catch him by the scruff of his neck. He started flapping his wings.

Hey! he protested.

"You'd better not be messing with me," she growled. "Me, Mum and Dad have been through hell and back the last three days."

She's alive. I've been talking to her for three days.

"Fine. Assume that this is true. Then where is she?" Jake started pacing. He was as worried about Lora as the rest of us, but still…

"Well?" Jess started shaking Tobias slightly. "If you've been telling the truth, then I'm sure you won't mind telling me WHERE THE HELL MY SISTER IS!"

__

Where is_ Lora? Now that's the million-dollar question…_


	7. And as much of it as we can dare to hope...

A/N: To justify myself ahead of any discrepancies, _And the moral of the story is_ is set somewhere between #28 and #29

**********************************

So there I was, wandering around in a forest. Only it wasn't a forest. It was a bird. And not just any bird, either. A talking one. One that can, for two hours at a time, turn into a human boy or anything else he can touch.

Me? My name is Dr Dolittle.

Just kidding; I'm Lora. Lora Maxwell. No worries about my name. Namely because I'm one and a half millimetres tall (apparently) and am presumed missing and possibly dead by everyone.

Isn't my life great?

I spent the best part of three days talking to a red-tailed hawk. Yes, nurse. I'd like my straitjacket extra padded, please. No, not the pink one! The one with green and blue stripes!

Anyway…

He couldn't find any of the others before Monday because they were all apparently being interviewed by the cops and my dad, who apparently blamed Jake and the others for my 'disappearance'.

For lack of anything else to talk about, Tobias - the bird's name - told me about the missions the Animorphs had been on in the past. I have to admit some of them were cool, like when he and Ax morphed bulls to get into a slaughterhouse.

What can I say? I like cows!

Nighttime was when Tobias stopped talking. Didn't stop me, though. I kept singing through the night, and a lot of the day as well.

"I talks to talking birdies  
I likes to eat blue-green cheese  
I want my straitjacket creased  
In my bouncy rubber room  
I lives among stick-thin trees  
The ground just oozing with grease  
I wants to go back home please  
To a sis of doom and gloom…"

Monday came (allegedly) and with it, Tobias' not-at-all-subtle plan to get Jess' attention. He was going to do a fly-by outside the school. Clever. I mean, what if he was spotted, what if he got spotted by the wrong people? What if I fell off?!

But the bird was highly optimistic and assured me that as long as I held on, it shouldn't be a problem. Like a fool, I believed him.

We got to the school okay, and I heard Tobias cry out that he had to show Jess something.

No worries, Lora, he assured me on the way to the barn. Like a fool, I believed him.

We reached the barn.

Voices rumbled. I could just make out some of them.

"Well?"

It's Lora.

"What about her?" Jess?

She's alive.

Then it was like, EARTHQUAKE! "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Hey!

"You'd better not be messing with me. Me, Mum and Dad have been through hell and back the last three days." Jess again, presumably.

She's alive. I've been talking to her for three days.

"Fine. Assume that this is true. Then where is she?" The voice wasn't Jess, but it was male. Jake? Marco?

"Well? If you've been telling the truth, then I'm sure you won't mind telling me WHERE THE HELL MY SISTER IS!"

Calm down already! She's on me.

"Literally," I muttered.

I heard that, he said.

"What do you mean, she's on you?" asked Jess. Not for the first time, I wondered how she was getting on.

The Helmacrons. They shrunk her and kicked her off the ship. She's on me.

"On you?"

"Yes, on him you twerps!"

Lora says 'Yes, on me, you twerps. Tobias reported dutifully.

"Very funny."

I thought so.

"We need to get her off you," surmised someone who could only be Jake.

Obviously, Tobias commented. Have you heard the songs this girl sings?

"Yes." Jess.

"I think I have an idea," Rachel said.

"Uh-oh…"

Lora, you can trust them.

Like a fool, I believed him.


	8. We're going on a Lora hunt

You see her yet?

Give me a chance. I can't exactly see very well, Jake snapped. Then Duh.

"Come on, come on!" Cassie was hopping from one leg to another by the door that led to her house. "David Attenborough doesn't exactly rabbit on forever!"

Anyone would think the girl was agitated by something.

Huh.

"Are you sure she's in there somewhere?" Jess asked for probably the billionth time, looking at Tobias.

Jess, he replied solemnly. I cannot be sure if it is indeed your sister in here, but an irritating little voice keeps singing about talking to birdies and eating blue green cheese in a bouncy rubber room. Pause. Sorry! But it is irritating!

As one, everyone with eyes blinked at the bird. What?

I looked over at Jess. She was hunched on a bale of hay, looking upset and kind of peed off, mixed with a tinge of nausea. I guess it can't be easy learning that your twin sister is not only one-and-a-half-millimetres tall, but is currently somewhere on the resident Bird-Boy.

"You okay, Jess?" I asked.

She looked over at me, made eye contact, but there was something in her gaze that completely freaked me out. It was like her eyes were hollow or something. Like there was nobody in, so to speak, and some part of me wondered if maybe all this was my fault. It was, after all, me who had made the case for the twins to join us against the Yeerks, and me who had persuaded them to come along to the barn.

Rachel was going to kill me when this was all over. Luckily (for me) she was otherwise occupied at the moment. She and Jake were on a Lora-hunt. Literally. _Around the world in 80 days_, I think the book was called. Well, this was _Around the bird in 80 minutes_. Two fleas on an epic journey to locate a midget who should be taller than me in an ideal world.

It had been suggested (quite forcefully by Rachel) that I join in on the search as well, but I had opted out. Me and fleas…no. No way. At the moment, spider was the smallest I'd go, and spider would be useless on this particular mission. Ax was AWOL with the cube incase the Helmacrons came back, and Cassie had to keep an eye on her parents. She had a taped British documentary by some bloke famous for wildlife shows over there (David Attenborough, never heard of the guy) for just such an occasion. Her parents would be absorbed until Armageddon, or possibly the end credits.

Whichever came first.

Have you told her to keep still? Rachel asked.

Repeatedly, Tobias sighed. She's sitting next to a feather, he added as an afterthought.

Gee, thanks. Jake. Look for a feather to find the shrunken English girl. I'm on a bird, for Pete's sake!

"Now is not the time, Marco," Cassie said warningly, as she saw my mouth open. Damn her. Damn her, knowing what I'm doing before I even know. Takes all the fun out of being me.

Instead, I smirked innocently and said, "Time check?"

She sighed with a half-smile and looked at her watch. "Thirty minutes."

Roger, Jake answered. Cassie and I exchanged a look. That boy was brought up on far too many war stories for his own good.

Hang on a sec, Rachel said. I think I see her.

Jess all but leaped off the hay mound. "What? You sure?" she asked in the direction of Tobias.

I think so, was the reply.

Let me try, Tobias interrupted. Lora? Can you see - aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

He started jerking this way and that, like he was in shock. That or being electrocuted.

I raised an eyebrow. "More singing?"

I'd say Rachel's found her. Tobias said shakily. God, that girl can scream. And I thought it was bad last time. Jeez

"I know," Jess commented. "So what do we do now?"

Get her off Tobias and find Ax, Jake answered.

I raised a hand. "I have a question."

Cassie looked at me.

"How and why?"

Cassie and Jess both gave me fish-eyed looks.

I rolled my eyes, unseen. "How do we get Lora off Tobias and why the hell Ax?"

Ax says he can build a machine to track the Helmacrons' movements. We find them and get them to unshrink Lora. And for your first question, Lora grabs hold of the flea and doesn't let go.

"That's insane."

You have a better idea?

Hmm…


	9. The result of writers' block

As it turned out, Marco didn't have a better idea. And let's face it, who in their right mind would want to grab hold of a flea the size of BIG BEN and not let go?!

On second thoughts...

"Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

The jump lasted an eternity, which is good, 'cause I love rollercoasters. The bigger the better, I always say. Bigger rollercoaster equals more puke on the sadistic attendant who laughs at the screams. You ever get that? Jess and I do, at least.

Where was I?

Oh. Oh yeah.

"Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

Good grief. Jake. The flea. Yep. The flea.

And who said insanity isn't contagious?

An infinity (ooh - big word!) later, we landed. I let go of Jake's - pointy thing, and landed on top of a boulder the size of Scarborough Castle. [1]

You got her? asked Jake. He sounded worried. Couldn't see why, myself.

Yes, oh fearless leader!

Marco...

I know, Rachel. Shutting up now.

All this from this from two fleas and a cockroach. How wonderful life is when you are so short... Wasn't that an old song? Who cares, I got my own.

I sat down and began to massage my foot. It hurts not having a shoe, you know. Very painful. Very painful indeed.

Mumbling of voices, then Tobias.

Right. OK, um, Lora?

"Who else would it be?"

Listen, Ax is here, and he thinks he may have a way to get you back to normal.

Like that's possible…

"Shut up Marco," I replied.

That's Rachel's line, he groused.

"How?" I asked nobody in particular.

I have the Helmacron ship with me.

Oh.

Cool.

Was I insane?

Hell, yeah.

**********************************

[1] Scarborough Castle is a cool, crumbling place on the northeast coast of England, in Scarborough (!)  
Plus, the waffles are great. The chocolate ones make you go hyper *twitches*


	10. The be all and end all

Jake, Rachel and I demorphed quickly while Tobias kept an eye on Lora. When we were done, Ax showed us the Helmacron ship, the dull grey smoke at one end indicating it was disabled. He handed the ship to Jake, who went to Cassie's dad's supply cupboard and fished out a boss clamp. At least, I think that's what it was. Anyway, he screwed the Helmacron ship in nice and tight and set it on the mini operating table at our end of the barn.

Promptly, as ever, angry thought-speak voices issued forth.

Replace us back on the ground, inferior humans!

I rolled my eyes. "Don't you ever shut up?"

We mighty Helmacron females will not be silenced by a mere human! Take this and tremble beneath our towering might!

And with that, a pint-sized Dracon beam lanced out of the front of the ship. And hit a beam at the far side of the barn.

"Nice shot. I'm over here, by the way."

"Shut, up Marco." Rachel. Who else?

Glaring slightly at me, Jess helped Jake get Lora onto a par with the ship. With the help of Tobias and a couple of hay straws, of course. Jake blocked Lora's assumed position with the back of his hand and addressed the Helmacron ship.

"Unshrink our friend and we will let you leave here alive. Refuse…" he left off, leaving the comment completely open for interpretation by all parties.

__

We'll feed you to the opossums.

We'll feed you to Visser Three. Nice protein content helps evil megalomaniacs grow big strong bones.

We'll give you to Ax. Ah, true hell on Earth. Survive the week, and we'll get Ax a VCR.

Memo to self: Avoid mentioning concept of VCRs and DVD players to Ax. It may well send him over the edge. Life will be nothing but _Gilligan's Island_ reruns over and over and over and over and over…

Jake removed his hand and a green beam shot out from the front of the alien ship. For a couple of seconds, nothing happened. Then Cassie pointed at the table. Lora, the size of a Barbie doll, and complaining. I could just about hear her.

"Lousy stinking aliens, lousy stinking forest. I need the loo. I need some FOOD. Cheese on toast ought to do the trick. Lousy stinking aliens. I miss sandwiches. Plenty of butter should do it. Lousy stinking forest. I want my shoe back…"

Not for the first time, I kind of pitied Tobias. Kind of.

By this time she was full-sized and blinking at the ship-in-a-clamp. Then at Jess, then at me. At the both of us.

She loped over from her little hay bale and started hugging me. Tightly. Again.

"Can't breathe…get off…Jake!…help…"

Nobody did. Typical really. After a couple of minutes, Jess let go (a little) and instead held my hand in a fierce grip.

I looked over her shoulder. Rachel looked pale, both eyebrows raised in my direction. On second thoughts, Ax had _four_ eyes trained on me, not one of them blinking.

"Isn't anybody going to say 'Welcome back'? I mean, come one, I've been in the Forest from Hell for days and I want to go home!"

I looked at her briefly, then I turned back to Jess.

"I talks to talking birdies  
I likes to eat blue-green cheese  
I want my straitjacket creased  
In my bouncy rubber room…"

Welcome back, Lora. But please, do not sing. It is quite painful.

Trust Ax to be blunt. He looked around at us all for backup and found us smiling. Except for Tobias, who had his little hawk head cocked to one side and was blinking at Ax. Probably Bird-boy's version of a smirk.

Then Jess started laughing, which set off a chain reaction as we all started laughing. Even Rachel, although she was trying hard not to. Jess let go of me and walked over to the operating table. There she and Lora had a sniffly reunion. You know the sort. Mushy. Huggy. Long.

And then, in a quiet voice, I heard Jess whisper, "Welcome back, sis. Let's go home."

They then pulled apart. Jess grabbed my hand and Rachel's hand, while Lora attached herself firmly to Jake and Cassie. A couple of minutes later, Tobias and Ax were human, and the eight of us walked to Jess and Lora's house. Halfway there, Tobias slapped his head in a very Homer Simpson-like moment, but refused to elaborate further when pressed by Rachel.

Marco, it's the butter! Tobias, likely in private thought-speak. Jess. Whenever she hears the word butter! It has to be!

I leaned behind Ax and Rachel and gave Tobias a distinctly fish-eyed look, one that said _Eh?_

Never mind.

Now _that_ I understood.

A few minutes later, we got to Lora's house. She rang the bell and a couple of minutes later, Mr Maxwell opened the door. For a couple of seconds he simply stared, the engulfed his daughter into a bear-like hug before doing the same to Jess. He ushered the rest of us in and silently showed us into the living room, where Lora and Jess's mum was watching the TV on mute. She looked up and first registered the presence of eight teenagers before she picked up on the fact that two of them were her daughters.

Contrary to her husband, she burst into tears and had to be consoled by Lora for several uncomfortable minutes before she spoke.

"You…you must be hungry. I'll get you something to eat."

She looked up at the other seven of us. "You can all stay. Come on. I've got chilli on the stove. I can do some more if there isn't enough…"

Cassie looked worried.

I soon found out why.

Ax, you see, loves chilli. Loves, as in LOVES the stuff. Had it at Cassie's once, apparently. Couldn't get enough of it, apparently.

I'll leave the rest to the imagination of whoever might be reading this. Except for the fact that this time round, Jess never let go of my hand.

****

The End  
(We hope…)


End file.
